Prince Harry visiting US Army cadets at West Point

[June 25, 2010]  WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) -- Britain's Prince Harry will join cadets training at the U.S. Military Academy on Friday as he starts a three-day visit to New York.

Harry, third in line to the British throne, will take part in live-fire drills and watch field exercises at Camp Buckner, a cadet training facility at West Point.

The drills will be held some 40 miles north of New York City, but they may seem familiar to the 25-year-old prince. Harry attended the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and is a lieutenant in the British Army.

Harry served in Afghanistan in 2008 as a battlefield air controller until his time was cut short by a media leak. He has made no secret of his desire to return to the front lines and the decision last month by British Army commanders to train him as an Apache attack helicopter pilot could make that more likely.

After West Point, Harry heads to another military-themed event on the flight deck of Manhattan's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, a retired aircraft carrier, where he will promote cooperation between U.S. and British veteran organizations.

Harry will throw out a first pitch at a Mets baseball game on Saturday and take part in a UNICEF event.

On Sunday, he will walk with wounded veterans participating in a road race through Central Park. He also plans to participate in the third annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic on June 27 on Governors Island in New York Harbor. The polo event will benefit American Friends of Sentebale, the U.S. arm of the global charity co-founded by Harry that supports impoverished children of Lesotho in southern Africa.

Harry is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.